1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a unique assemply forming a package of firewood together with a material exhibiting greater combustibility e.g., kindling and wherein a thermally shrinkable plastic envelope or casing is placed over a plurality of layers of firewood. Each such layer is positioned in substantially normal axial displacement relative the next adjacent layer, thus providing omni-directional dimensional stability to the completed package.
Homeowners are increasingly becoming more aware of ways to conserve energy. This is in an attempt to more economically make use of their homes. Thus, the fireplace has been revived, as both an energy conserving tool and as a means for providing more aesthetic value to the home. Homeowners are using their fireplaces in greater numbers than ever, primarily in view of the dramatic increase in the cost of common sources of heating energy such as fuel oil, natural gas and electricity. For this reason, untold thousands of households now use the fireplace as a means of providing at least significant supplemental heating of the home, with or without the addition of a fireplace wood stove insert.
Splitting firewood is both time consuming and a cumbersome task, especially during seasons of inclement weather. Although split firewood is available, and may be stored in one's home or backyard, transporting and handling of individual pieces of split firewood generally results in undesirable results, e.g., splinters in the hands of the user, and unwanted or undesirable pieces of wood. Packaged firewood, generally available in single layers or round strapped bundles, is frequently unstable during storage of large quantities, and is normally accessible only in loose fitting containers. The storage of bulk delivered quantities of firewood, as in cord or half-cord lots, is not feasible for many users, particularly in the case of families residing in the now very popular townhouses or apartments which are equipped with fireplaces. in these instances, often the entire inventory of firewood must be maintained within the residence interior. This precludes the purchase, transport or otherwise handling and storage of large quantities of the firewood. Additionally, it presents an untidy and awkward situation for such inhabitants to separately cut and store appropriate kindling for the starting of the burning of the firewood.
Accordingly, it is highly desirable to have available relatively small, precise measurements of firewood and kindling and which are provided in extremely compact and clean packages that are convenient for ready transport, even by women and children.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various prior art methods and apparatus for packaging goods, as well as the method of their construction in general, are known and are found in the prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,189 issued to Cutrara contemplates a process for curing green wood within a heat shrinkable thermoplastic netting, thus providing individual bags of palletized kiln dried firewood.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,989 issued to Hannen discloses a method and apparatus for packaging palletized stacks of goods which includes a conveyor device for transporting the respective pallets to a shrink station for individual wrapping.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,529,717 issued to McDougal discloses a palletized means of tightly heat shrinking a load of firewood to prevent lateral movement of its enclosed materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,001 issued to Daniels discloses a method and apparatus for packaging a stack of articles comprising providing a vertical support and a pallet upon which layers of articles are placed. A shrink wrap cover is then provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,431 issued to Place et al. discloses a vertical support and a base for packaging a stack of articles. The vertical support has a removable truss member.
These patents, or known prior art uses, teach and disclose various methods and apparatus for packaging goods of various manufactures, and the like, as well as methods of their construction; but none of them, whether taken singly or in any combination, are seen to disclose the specific details of the combination according to the present invention in such a way as to bear upon the claims herein.
More specifically, none of the prior art patents disclose a package of split firewood, wherein the package includes a plurality of vertically positioned layers of constant length split firewood in normal axial displacement to one another, with a top layer of kindling and which is enveloped within a thermally shrinkable heat wrap material, thus limiting displacement of the contained firewood and kindling material during packaging, transport and storage thereof.